Health Insurance for Your Gestational Carrier: Top Questions Answered

IT’S OPEN ENROLLMENT! And a great time to find a surrogate and build your family. I think we can all agree there aren’t many ways to make this subject fun!

These are the top 5 Questions or Concerns about Health Insurance for a Gestational Carrier / Surrogate From Intended Parents:

How do I know if the Gestational Carrier’s insurance covers or excludes surrogacy?

Insurance can be tricky. Sometimes a policy is fairly clear but more often than not knowing for certain is difficult. There are professional organizations such as ART Risk Solutions that can conduct a professional review of your surrogate’s insurance policy to help clarify if surrogacy is covered. Nothing is a 100% guarantee but companies such as ART Risk Solutions specialize in insurance, especially related to surrogacy. The minimal fee to clarify and have more certainty is much better than assuming the risk of not knowing.

When is Open Enrollment in New Mexico and when does the policy become active if a policy is purchased on the Exchange?

Open Enrollment for New Mexico is November 1, 2017 until December 15, 2017 – so not much longer now! All policies purchased via the exchange will have an effective date ofJanuary 1, 2018.

How many plans are available through New Mexico’s Health Exchange and what if I need a policy when open enrollment is not available?

According to ART Risk Solutions, New Mexico has 1 surrogacy friendly policy as of October 26, 2017. If a policy is not purchased during open enrollment there is always the year round option to buy a backup policy through ART Risk Solutions (or a similar insurance broker). These backup policies will cost more money than a policy bought during Open Enrollment, however, the benefit of knowing you have surrogacy covered health insurance outweighs the cost of the policy.  Especially when the policy protects against financial responsibility in the event of a catastrophic medical situation.

Can the Gestational Carrier use the Intended Parent’s Insurance?

Health insurance can be a large cost in the surrogacy process, unfortunately, the gestational carrier is not an insured person under that policy, so the IP’s insurance policy can not be used that way. It is much more important to look at the Gestational Carrier’s current policy and have it reviewed, buy a policy during open enrollment (if the timing is right), or buy a backup policy to make sure that she has health insurance coverage.  It is a large cost, think of it as making sure your child is well taken care of from the very beginning.

Other Things to consider when looking into Health Insurance:

(Fine, that’s not a question but it’s no less important!) When looking into health insurance for a Gestational Carrier a few other things that you may need to consider are…Does the Surrogate policy need to accept dual coverage in order to work with her current insurance for other health related items not connected with surrogacy?  Will this journey last over two deductible years? If it does, it is possible that a backup policy through a private broker may be less expensive or even in cost over two years time.

Insurance can be tricky.  It is not a place to cut corners or try to go it alone.  Rely on a professional to make sure you are financially protected throughout your surrogacy journey.